


could've (I'm not him)

by revoleotion



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Character Death, Enric Pryde crushed on Brendol's wife and this is what happened, Fix it of sorts, Kylo Ren is not sympathetic, spy Pryde, sympathetic Pryde
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-15
Updated: 2020-08-15
Packaged: 2021-03-06 00:33:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,460
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25914412
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/revoleotion/pseuds/revoleotion
Summary: “I thought you were smarter than this,” Ren said. “Brendol Hux.”The name pulled back a memory that Enric wasn't proud of.[...]“I understand you two were working together,” Ren said with a slight smile that activated every single one of Enric's alarm bells.“I made you Allegiant General for one reason. I don't want Armitage Hux to have that position.”
Relationships: Armitage Hux & Enric Pryde
Kudos: 17





	could've (I'm not him)

**Author's Note:**

> Aneleise challenged me to post this, so hi Aneleise!  
> I have no excuse for my feelings about Pryde. That's all.  
> \- ben
> 
> Edit as of 15.08.20, 21:22: This got enough backlash to enrage some people on the internet. With some, I mean one very loud person. Please be respectful in the comments and don't attack anyone.

“What do you think I made you come back for?” his Supreme Leader asked. Up close he looked like a child hiding behind a lightsaber on his belt. 

Enric had seen Vader's fall, not quite his rise, but he knew that Kylo Ren's fall would never look the same. Not because he lacked the enemies, but because he lacked the friends. If he fell, he'd fall alone. He wouldn't be mourned. And he wouldn't have any legacy to look back on. 

“You asked me to command the _Steadfast_ ,” Enric said because that had been the reason he had accepted the offer. Not because of the power or the Force Religion that had never truly left his mind. The ship. The memory of the battle of Jakku where he had lost everything, the battle that made him run, the battle that destroyed his entire world. 

Ren rolled his eyes. He made a step forward and leaned closer until Enric started to feel uncomfortable. Enric had grown up with the Empire, at least he felt like that was all of his life that mattered. The Republic was a faint memory in his head. The only politics, the only power, Enric knew was the Empire. He was used to having to rise through the ranks to be powerful, one rank at the time. 

There rarely was any murder involved. That's why he disliked Ren with some instinct he couldn't quite get rid of. Killing your former leader and assume his position was far from what Enric knew. What Enric _stood for_ , for that matter. 

“I thought you were smarter than this,” Ren said. “Brendol Hux.” 

The name pulled back a memory that Enric wasn't proud of. Nights with Maratelle that included more than wine and “I don't want to imagine him sleeping with her, Enric”. He had loved how she said his name, and how she had always been loving in a distant way. She had been fairly arrogant too but the pain had always leaked through her words. He hadn't loved her, he didn't think so. The wine evenings had outweighed the nights in his bedroom. When Brendol had made the choice of leaving her behind to take his bastard son, the pain had been a bonfire in Enric's chest but like every fire it had stopped eventually. 

“I understand you two were working together,” Ren said with a slight smile that activated every single one of Enric's alarm bells. 

“I made you Allegiant General for one reason. I don't want Armitage Hux to have that position.” 

Of course it hadn't been about that ship. Or Enric's childish crush on Brendol's wife. It had always been about the bastard child. 

“I understand,” Enric said, although he wasn't sure about that. 

“If you're anything like his father, you know what to do.” 

_… what to do?_

The confusion must've shown on his face because Ren rolled his eyes again. 

“Don't be stupid, Pryde. Show me you deserve this position. Make sure this bastard doesn't murder me.” 

Enric smiled. “He has quite a reputation, doesn't he?” 

“He has.”

There was a pause. Ren looked away and for a second, a tiny second, Pryde understood. He saw. He didn't know much about young Armitage but what he knew was that Brendol wasn't rotting in the ground for nothing. He couldn't see the boy as someone who murdered for power. Unlike Kylo Ren. 

“Don't disappoint me, General.”

No matter how long Enric looked, he couldn't find anything in Ren's eyes that suggested he wasn't serious about this. No doubt, not in the slightest bit. He wanted Armitage Hux broken, he wanted him in pieces, and he wanted Enric to do it. 

But Enric wasn't Brendol. 

Still, he nodded, bowed in front of his leader and went to look at his new office. 

* * *

The look on Armitage Hux' face was so painful to watch that Enric wanted to turn around and leave. He was a carbon copy of his father, just skinnier, more desperate. Every inch of his body showed loss he was trying to hide. Enric wasn't sure who he had lost but the sadness cut so deep it almost left physical marks. 

“Good day, sir,” Armitage said. 

Enric didn't allow himself to smile. He nodded, like little Armitage was worth nothing. And perhaps he wasn't worth anything, Enric couldn't decide that. 

The boy was suffering enough without Enric abusing him. He was so close to breaking underneath the pressure Ren put on him. 

“I look forward to working with you,” Armitage said. 

“So do I,” Enric said. He meant it. But everything in his voice suggested that he didn't. 

“Is there anything else you need, sir?” 

“I don't.”

Armitage looked at him. Enric felt something in his chest tighten, and the feeling didn't go away, even when the boy saluted him and left the bridge. Enric watched him walk away like he was running from something. 

It was the first time Enric started thinking that a ship may not be worth as much as he thought. 

The first time he witnessed Armitage falling apart, Enric only heard it. It was right after a meeting, where Ren had forcibly shut the General up with the Force, causing Hux to choke on it and to make his eyes turn glossy with fear. Enric walked past an office and heard a quiet voice that unmistakably belonged to the younger Hux. 

“You should be here,” the voice whispered. “He's back. He's back and everything will be bad again. And you're dead.” 

Enric tried to ignore it, since it clearly wasn't meant for him, but it haunted him when he tried to sleep that night. He hadn't done anything yet, and Ren had won already. 

The second time, it happened in a meeting. This time, Armitage Hux didn't say anything but when Enric mentioned his father, his eyes unfocused and he stared down on the table. He didn't look up again until the meeting was over. 

Enric raised an eyebrow as Kylo Ren's judging eyes looked at him. He didn't want his praise, not for that. He hadn't even wanted to use that name, and now that he had done it and activated the time bomb called Armitage, he regretted it. There wasn't anything to be proud of, and this was more than just a job he was doing well. 

The third time, Armitage Hux snapped. They were alone, Armitage was cleaning up a classroom and Enric came to make sure he was doing a good job with that. Before Enric could even say anything, Armitage slammed his datapad onto his desk and looked up to him. 

“If you ever bothered to take a look at my life, you'd see that I've been loyal to the Order all my life. What do you want?” 

Enric allowed himself to give him a smile, as arrogant and belittling as it got. 

“I want this ship,” he could end the sentence right there but he decided to push on, “to function. I can't risk having you run wild and kill yourself to the top again.” 

Armitage stared at him, his eyes dead and tired. 

“No,” he said quietly. “Of course not.”

The conversation didn't feel like it was over but Enric had enough of it. No matter how much distance he brought between himself and Armitage, he couldn't get his voice out of his head. 

_No, of course not._

* * *

They managed to avoid each other for what felt like the calm before the storm. Just like Armitage, Enric stayed silent during most meetings but it wasn't defeat, it was knowing that Ren didn't care for his opinion. The meetings gave Enric the opportunity to think about the call. He had almost thrown his comlink into the void of space when he had heard the familiar voice. 

He was back. 

And he expected Enric Pryde to serve him again. 

Here's the thing: Enric had never truly been loyal to the Emperor. He had been loyal to the Empire. And there was a difference, although he was glad that the Emperor hadn't caught on. Judging from the conversation, not long, a lot more frightening than Enric had wanted to, Palpatine had his own plans for Kylo Ren. He just needed Enric to be there, in case the boy failed. 

And, in all honesty, Enric was getting sick of feeling like a child stuck in their parents' divorce. 

He thought about loyalty a lot these days, about what he had seen of the Order and how little it was worth to him. One just could not switch from one flawed but functional system to a system that wasn't sure what it wanted to be half of the time. Enric had always admired the Empire for its structures, for the academies, for hierarchy. The First Order had nothing of that, of course not. Even the program Brendol had been so proud of was a copy of the Jedi Order - a bad one. Armitage had tried to fix what he could but now it just was very unfinished brainwashing. Also, and Enric couldn't be the only one who thought this, why did they call the other side the resistance? The First Order was resisting the New Republic, for a reason he hadn't figured out yet either. 

When he looked at Armitage's old speeches and plans, he could see where the boy had wanted to go with his Order. Enric could see some value in that. What Kylo Ren was doing was close to madness. 

So, how did one solve this? Palpatine's Last Order plans were a clever wordplay on the First Order, that was for sure, but too destructive to truly be of use. What Palpatine didn't understand, what Kylo Ren didn't understand, what Armitage Hux didn't understand, and what Orson Krennic hadn't understood either was that you couldn't rule a galaxy you blew up. You couldn't get resources from planets you blew up. 

If everyone could stop treating the galaxy like a playground to test planet destroying weapons on, things would be a lot better. As for now, Enric had to play the game - because if he didn't play at all, he'd lose. 

He didn't plan to lose. He was never going to lose the _Steadfast_ again. 

It was the day after the disaster of a meeting. The meeting that showed Enric that keeping his mouth shut might have been the best idea of his life. He looked at the dead body of the alleged spy, and a part of him already knew that it couldn't have been him. Because Enric Pryde had told the resistance about Palpatine. Did he feel bad? Not really. His priorities had shifted to himself and perhaps the bastard boy across the table. Armitage Hux' voice had become so quiet that Enric barely recognized it anymore. 

_About the mask?_

It was the day after that meeting, and Enric still couldn't shake the horror from his limbs. Armitage was breaking faster than Enric could sabotage the First Order. 

* * *

He speaks up one last time. Suggests to blow up the planet. Which, Enric has to admit, is better than whatever Ren is planning to do with his girl-crush. No, it's not a crush. A crush was wine on a couch with Maratelle. This isn't love. 

When Armitage's throat gets sealed with the Force, he looks over to Enric with more panic in his eyes than Enric's stomach can handle. He inhales, waits for Ren to leave and then swallows every love he ever had for the _Steadfast_. She isn't worth it. Her aftertaste leaves him with the satisfaction that he's doing the right thing. 

“I'm not him,” Enric says what has been on his tongue for days, for weeks. 

Armitage Hux finally breaks. His shoulders are shaking, his first sob comes out as a tiny, desperate sound. Enric makes a step towards him, unsure of what the boy will do next. 

Armitage flees into his arms like it's the only safe place in the galaxy. 

“Sh,” Enric hears himself saying. “I'm not him. It's okay.” 

It takes Armitage five minutes to calm down. Once he can breathe again, he looks up into Enric's face. 

“Oh but I deserve it,” he says. “I'm a traitor.” 

Enric raises an eyebrow. He's not surprised. Spite is a powerful motive. 

“That makes two of us, then.” 

For the first time Armitage smiles, a smile that is nowhere near Brendol. For the first time, he looks like someone else. And even though he isn't related to her by blood, he looks like his father's wife. 

The moment doesn't last long, the galaxy picks up speed and pulls them with it. Hux shows up on the bridge with a cane supporting his injured leg. 

The resistance members are gone. 

It doesn't take Enric long to do the math. 

“What are you _doing_ here?” he hisses. 

“The resistance attacked me. I had to let them go.”

Enric turns to the closest trooper and takes their blaster. The fear in Armitage's eyes is back. He grabs the cane tighter, like it's going to save him somehow. 

But Enric Pryde doesn't shoot. 

“Out,” he says quietly, with enough danger to it to make Hux flinch. He looks like he wants to say something but no word escapes him as he runs for the exit. Enric has the sudden feeling that this is the last time he'll see him, Brendol's little clone that is so much more than that. He's Maratelle, left on Arkanis as the riots dared to kill her. He watches her son run to safety. He's on the first _Steadfast_ back on Jakku, in a losing battle. He's okay with it. 

He doesn't attempt to lie to Kylo Ren. There's no use in it. He's watching an insane man trying to collect the pieces of his useless order, there's no way to sugarcoat the news. 

“Where's Hux?” Ren asks as he finds Enric on the bridge. He decided that this spot might be as good as any other one. Perhaps this is what he deserves, going out on his beloved ship. And he fully expects death. It's a lot different than he had always assumed, and it's not in exile, not in his garden watching a sunset. And at the same time it's exactly what he expected. Going out in war. Going out as someone who was loyal to the Empire, not to the Order, not to Palpatine, definitely not to Kylo Ren. 

“He escaped,” Enric says. 

Ren's fingers linger above his lightsaber, then he hesitates and puts his hand down again. 

“Your blaster,” he says. 

Enric reaches for it but Ren already uses the Force to pull it to him. He weighs it in his hands, looks up again and fires. 


End file.
